Ms Rachel Downes:

When Caranua gets quotes from survivors, we are bound by the same regulations under procurement. If the cost is under €1,000, one quote is required; if it is between €2,000 and €5,000, two quotes are required; and if it is more than €5,000, three quotes are required. I used survivors in prison as an earlier example and sometimes survivors are just not in a position to get the required number of quotes and Caranua takes a person-centred approach to work this out. Another example is that survivors may be going through treatment for cancer, and we do not ask them for three quotes as we must take that person and survivor-centres approach to manage the process.

During the Covid-19 pandemic we have been very aware of the restrictions on survivors and the difficulties in trying to access quotes. We contacted the Department to ask to amend the process.

If a quotation is under €7,000, they only require one quote, between €7,000 and €10,000 they require two quotes, and over €10,000 it is still three. The Department, in recognition of the special circumstances, actually did sanction that and that is the process we have used since mid-year.